They Fell From the Sky, Into Middle Earth
by ElvishPrincessOfMiddleEarth
Summary: 4 modern day 16 year old girls who are Tolkien fans, (Jem, Harriet, Anna and Jemima) Fall into a mysterious map of middle earth and discover themselves slap bang in the middle of a epic adventure, where they find love, joy, magic, adventure and sadness. As well as many other middle earth characters it Features Legolas, Thorin, Kili, Fili and a rather embarrassed Bombur.
1. The Map

Harriet, Anna, Jem and Jemima crowded round the middle earth map that had just arrived in the post from eBay.

"Epic" breathed Jemima. "It's so realistic! Where'd ya get it Jem?"

"Just of the internet, it's pretty cool huh?" answered Jem.

"God, we are such Tolkien nerds, it's silly, but anyway, there's nothing wrong in having a passion, even if it is a made up world full of small hairy men." Laughed Anna.

"Legolas, is not a small hairy man!" Exclaimed Harriet. "Legolas, is amazing." Her face going dreamy, then scowling at Anna who hid her smile.

Everyone knew Harriet had a massive obsession with Legolas, if someone made any mockery about him, they knew they would die at her hand.

"I think I'm going to blue tack the map on my wall? What do you think?" Jem said.

"Good idea, but let's have a look at it properly first." Harriet chattered.

The map looked old and smelled old, even if it was only an Internet replica. It had an eerie entrancing effect on the girls and they seemed to gaze upon it like they had discovered treasure. It was a golden parchment, the runes, mountains, forests and place names of the world they loved so much were inked delicately in ink upon the paper. Jemima traced the path of the dwarves and Bilbo to the lonely mountain with her finger.

What they did not know was that this map, was the first ever created by Tolkien, hand drawn his self. This map was full of the dreams and stories Tolkien had, had in his mind, and at his death this map had absorbed his invented world, and the magic of it's tales had been awakened and made real within the map. Middle earth was awakening.

As they looked upon it in silence, the mountains seemed to flex, the trees looked as if they swayed in the breeze, and to their amazement the sea and rivers looked as if they flowed. A wild wind rose from the map and engulfed them in a raging whirl wind of silver leaves; sweet ocean spray; fresh flakes of mountain snow and the choking smoke of a dragon. Anna screamed and Jem grabbed her arm.

"What the hell is happening?" Harriet shouted.

The roaring grew deafening and the flurry of smoke, snow and ocean forced them to shut their eyes tight. Now they all screamed, and began to fall, the sensation was terrifying. The wind stopped and as they opened their eyes they saw the crisp clear ground miles beneath them and silver clouds above them. They fell into the map.


	2. Spiders

Terror gripped them, the trees below looked harsh and black, surely this would be the end, and they would fall to the ground. They shut their eyes and prayed. Why should it be like this? The forest grew closer and closer. They braced themselves, squeezing their eyes tight shut.

The wind rushed past them, and suddenly they felt the impact, but it was soft and springy. Crying out with surprise, Jem opened her eyes to see friends around her, unharmed. They were stuck, in thick spider's webs.

"HARRIET! JEM! ANNA!?" exclaimed Jemima terrified for her friend's safety.

"We're all here, how are we going to get out of this?" Anna groaned.

Harriet swore loudly.

"Where are we?" Anna panicked, franticly trying to release herself from the sticky web.

"Durrrrr you imbecile, we are in Mirkwood, in a bloody spider's web!" moaned Jem. "And we are probably going to be eaten pretty soon!"

Jemima looked around her, beneath the canopy it was dark and murky, trees twisting into mutilated, sinister branches. Spider webs blanketed the trees and various skeletons of unfortunate birds to much larger beings hung limply from the white threads. Something caught her gaze, from the corner of her eye she saw a shadowy creature moving

"There are things, moving in the trees!" shouted Jemima, alerting the others. "Spider!"

"Oh my god! Spiders, huge freakin spiders, coming for us!" Screamed Anna.

Harriet swore again, louder, and worse.

The large creatures climbed towards them, snapping their grotesque jaws, eyes gleaming. They had huge hairy legs, and a colossal spike protruding from their bum, dripping with venom. Jem started to yell, she had a terrible phobia of spiders.

They began to wriggle franticly as the spiders edged closer, Harriet got her arm free and began to untangle herself, but as she twisted over to unwrap her legs the web reattached itself, tangling her up more. "I can't get free! Damn this!" she shouted. "where the hell is my saviour, Legolas? LEGOLAAAAAAAAAS?" she called hopefully.

Jem was curled up in a sticky, webbed mess, whimpering hysterically as a spider came closer, hissing and clacking it's razor sharp teeth. "I don't like it! I hate spiders!" she screamed.

Soon spiders circled them gnashing and drawling, they were holding back, until it was the right time to attack. The girls whimpered and quivered awaiting the advance of the spiders, they would be wrapped in silk, slowly smothered, then eaten alive. Above the canopy the sun was setting, turning the sky into a blood red. As the darkness of night commenced, and the sun set the spiders grew excited, loving the fear radiating from the helpless girls, their prey. As the moon shone palely a spider screeched like a battle order. At this command the spiders came closer in a frenzied attack.


	3. Entrance Of The Elves

Suddenly a volley of silver arrows shot from the darkness, the spiders scattered squealing, some fell; huge bodies falling through the layers of the webs to the ground. Figures, not dark creatures but human like figures ran through the shadows surrounding the spiders. Arrows came flying past Harriet, Jem, Jemima and Anna but never hit them, speeding into the bellies of the spiders.

The arachnids panicked and scattered, the spiders that lingered soon fell. The trapped girls looked on, wide eyed, surprised at the sudden death of the spiders. Hope began to enter their bodies, but they stayed quiet, still frightened. It became silent, and the warriors who had saved them were obviously skilled in hiding for there was no trace of life except for the girls.

A shrill scream pierced the quiet; it came from Harriet. The last dark spider loomed over her, grinning, then it plunged its dagger like pincers deep into her side. She yelled, and went quiet.

"Harriet!? No! Are you ok.?" Screamed the others, the web hindered their sight and they could not see her.

An arrow whistled from the shelter of the trees, lodging itself in the spider's head, it collapsed, Harriet beneath it.

"Harriet? Are you ok?" exclaimed Jem, "what is happening, I can't see."

"Blood, oh God. Blood, there's blood," Harriet whispered, muffled beneath the spider. Her eyes shut, she was unconscious.

The trees rustled, and from the darkness sprang an elf, sword in hand. He pushed the spider from on top of her, with such strength. She lay crumpled and wounded, he slashed the web, releasing her free and picked her up, gently, cradling her in his arms.

Other elves, male and female leaped onto the webs, avoiding the sticky droplets and cut loose the three others, they grabbed them and held them firm. Jem tried to struggle, but the female elf holding her captive tightened her grip. "if you struggle you will die, think wisely." She snarled at Jem. Then turning to Legolas she shouted "Legolas, why did you leap with no command? We were waiting till morning came. You should've stayed hidden, you idiot!"

"Be calm Arien," he answered. "if we had waited she would've been dead by sunrise, she is losing blood. We must get her to the healing rooms, come, swiftly!" He commanded. Arien, the black haired female elf scowled, "Legolas, these are not our guests, they are our prisoners!"

"Arien, do as I say!" He said. She followed him reluctantly and signalled to the other elves to follow too.

"Will you hurt us? please do not hurt my friends." Anna pleaded with the elf man who held her hands behind her back. He did not answer.

Jemima stood wide eyed, staring at her captive's pointed ears. "Hey Anna, Jem! They're elves, this is so cool." she breathed. Then she realised Harriet was missing. "Where is Harriet!?"

Jem and Anna realised too and looked around. She was not there.

Jem, Anna and Jemima stood shakily, hands knotted by silver rope behind their backs. "Move, do not run." The male elf grunted to them.

Harriet was far before them, unconscious in the arms of Legolas. Legolas ran ahead, as fast as he could, if he failed to get to the healing room in time it would be too late….


	4. Harriet's wound

Harriet awoke, blinking in the dim light. She lay on a bed, in a small lowly lit room, where shelves of ointment and powders adorned the walls. She flinched, the pain in her side was unbearable, the wound was bandaged and her blood had turned the white linen red. She groaned and tried to prop herself up but she was too weak. The room had a pale silvery glow to it, and even though it was small, everywhere she looked was some intricately carved decoration or embellishment.

She flinched again and grabbed her side where the wound was, "Oh God, ow." She muttered.

She had no idea where she was, or where her friends were, all she remembered was some stupid map and terrifying creatures and pain. Her memories were blurred and muddled.

She shuddered, and spun her head round for she thought she saw something move from the corner of her eye, her mind must be playing tricks, but no, she thought she saw the carved statue move. The statue's face looked familiar, handsome and blue eyed, framed with long shining blonde hair.

She turned over into the soft sheets, away from the statue. It made her mind confused. Fear began to rise inside her, she remembered more. Now she knew what world she lay in. An urge to find her friends forced her crawl from the bed and stand, despite the pain. She gasped with excruciating agony and felt light headed. Stumbling backwards a few steps. "Jemima, Anna? Jem, are you there?" she called quietly growing delirious. She breathed deeply, and then quickly taking sharp intakes of cold breath.

She spun around, to look at the statue and this time it did move. She swore it did. Harriet opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. Her wound began to hurt, and her head spun.

"Do not be afraid, rest." Said the statue still in the shadows, she could not see who it was anymore.

"Where are my friends, where am I?" She said, voice growing panicky. The wound sent a wave of burning pain throbbing through her body. She collapsed, in to his open arms.


	5. A Discovery Of Love

"Be careful, you are weak. The wound has taken much blood." He said sternly. She winced, and tried to support herself without his grip but fell back to him.

She looked up at him with adoring eyes, "You are Legolas Greenleaf aren't you? Is this a dream?"

He furrowed his brow, "she knows my name?" he whispered quietly to himself, bringing her back to the bed where he lay her down with care. She exhaled, calming in his presence.

"Do you know what happened, I remember falling into a map, and spider webs, why am I here? it doesn't seem real at all?" she breathed. She looked at his perfect face, he seemed so angelic, so thoughtful.

He began to talk "You fell from another world, the spiders, they wounded you." Harriet shuddered, remembering the stab of it's jaws.

"We watched you struggle in the webs, and killed the spiders, except we missed one, it's name was irazad, leader of that spider clan, it was crafty and I did not see it until it had drawn blood. I ran here with you, these are the healing rooms, the healing elf saved you, you have been asleep for many hours." His voice entranced her, then she blushed imagining him running here with her in his arms.

"Thank you." She whispered. "For saving me."

"You are welcome, I just couldn't- I couldn't leave-" he trailed off, and then finished the sentence inaudible to her, "I couldn't leave such beauty of yours to die."

"Where are my friends?" She said, growing scared.

"Safe and comfortable" he lied, he did not want her to be worried.

She lay back deeper into the pillows, relaxing. A sharp knock at the door startled them. Legolas stood from where he had been sitting on the side of the bed to open the door, but the visitor barged in unwelcomed.

"Father." He exclaimed, then in turning to Elvish so Harriet could not understand he said "do not be forceful, she is still weak." Thranduil answered sharply, with a glare, "The creatures fallen from the sky are our prisoners! However we treat them it will not be with kindness. You must learn Legolas!"

Directing his stare at Harriet he snapped, "Girl, I must know your race, how did you to this land? Are you an evil craft made by a sorcerer, for you are not of this world, I can sense it, no human of middle earth is like you."

"We come from earth, that is what we call it, in our land you are all from a story book created by a dead man called Tolkien, you are all supposed to be in story books!" she explained.

He walked another step towards her, threateningly "You lie, and that is what your friends told us, but it cannot be true. We have been real before your world existed! If you do not tell me the truth we will have to torture you and your friends, they are down their now in fact, my men are waiting for my command, if you do not speak I will order them to bleed them, slowly, till you start blabbing. You can only be creatures of evil, and evil deserves to suffer."

Legolas looked at his father, with a look of utter terror on his face, "You promised me you would not harm them," he hissed.

Harriet cried "No! Do not hurt them, for it is truth! Please I beg you."

"I shall leave you to decide whether you let your friends die, or you tell me truth. I will return when the sun rises," spat Thranduil, turning and leaving.

Harriet started to sob, and Legolas was distressed at her upset. He came closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, unsure of what to do for elves never showed their feelings publicly, he had not experience in comforting. She dried her reddened eyes and told herself, "I must find them, I must."

Legolas drew back his hand as she tried to stand. She stumbled forward, her legs wobbled and she clutched her side in agony, falling into him again, she threw her arms round his neck, not caring she had only just met, and burst into to floods of frustrated tears of misery. He held her there, and relaxed, feeling her grief as well. Her intimate embrace, in comfort for sadness or in love made him feel strange, his heart sung, what was this fond feeling that rose within him?

Her tears began to dry and she loosened her grip from him, sitting back onto the mattress, holding her face in her hands. Legolas sat down next to her, she looked at him, face full of admiration.

"Come, do not despair fair one, for there is so much joy to be had in this world, let me tell you stories of old, of battle and sadness, but the light and peace that comes afterwards. In all darkness there is light that subdues suffering." He comforted. And she listened to his words of utter beauty for what seemed like years and was put at peace, her head leaning on his shoulder.

As he finished speaking she realised their hands were interlocked together, his slender fingers wrapped tenderly around hers. She smiled at the sight of it and then turned to him, they looked at each other gazing into each other's deepest souls. She leaned towards him, and he lowered his head to hers. They were so close; he paused for a moment, gazing at her. 'What was this feeling; he had never felt it before? And what was this intimacy he shared with her?' he thought.

Their lips touched, a shiver went through Harriet's spine. His lips were soft, and cold. Her senses ran wild, heart thumping inside her chest. It was like a pure dream. She reached up and tangled her fingers within his hair, pulling him closer. For a moment they explored the kiss deeper, and then drew away. Legolas looked at her, dazed.

" I hear the birds sweet song, it is morning, My Father shall be here soon, I sense him coming." He said.

He left, leaving her dumbstruck and utterly in love.


	6. Dungeon Dark as Night

The sun shone through the small window in the corner of the room, bathing Harriet in a crown of golden light. Thranduil burst in, and circled her bed like a tiger and it's prey,

"I must know what you are! You may be the end to this world! Whatever disease you are riddled with, it may kill us, I must protect my people, tell me who you are!" He demanded menacingly.

"I told you before, I fell from the sky, from another world." She said dryly.

"You lie! I know you fell from the clouds, but there are no other worlds, who sent you here, did you ride the eagles?!" He began to grow angry and fierce.

"There is nothing else, that is the perfect truth." She repeated.

Thranduil scowled, "Guards!"

Two tall muscular elves entered, expression blank, like robots they cam to her bedside, one on her left and one on her left. Grabbing her arms they dragged her out, she struggled briefly but it did not last; their grip was firm. She cried aloud as her wound pounded, burning like painful fire. As she smiled Thranduil turned to face her, "I warned you, tell truth, or you shall suffer."

She stumbled down countless, twisting turning tunnels in silence, past fountains and large locked doors, great halls and marble statues. They went deeper and deeper into the bowels of the kingdom, until they reached a black barred door. The guard slid the bolt back with a dull clank and revealed the room within.

It was similar decoration, carvings of flowers and pillars, except for the stone was not ivory white and shining but a deep black. It was dimly lit, and she squinted around the room, scouring it for any trace of Anna, Jem and Jemima.

The guards threw Harriet down with force and she landed heavily on the ground, crying loudly as her the slit in her side throbbed again.

A soft voice from the shadows danced across the room, "Harriet? Is it you, please, have you come to save us?"

It was the fragile voice of Anna. "Anna? What have they done to you? Anna?" Harriet said urgently, now turning her gaze to the guards she pleaded, "Please, let me go to her?" The guards turned to each other and nodded in agreement, releasing the grip from her shoulder. Harriet scrambled to the corner where Anna lay.

"What the hell did they do?'

She showed her arm to Harriet, Harriet gasped. Anna flinched when she looked at it. They had cut runes into her arm, blood oozed from the cuts forming a pool around her. "Harriet?" she breathed weakly, "where are the others, do you know?" Harriet shook her head.

"Harriet? In the books the wood elves were never this brutal!" Anna breathed, wincing as more blood poured, but she could not stop the flow for her unharmed arm was bound in chains to the wall.

"Books are never like real life Anna, people in real life surprise you, books are much lighter than life, life can be dark." She answered, looking disgusted at Anna's arm. "Thranduil, is also very scared, we are like aliens falling to earth, no one knows what we are, for all he knows, we are here to destroy middle earth."

"That is enough" spat a guard elf, who had been watching, "come here you scum," he spat. Harriet, squeezed Anna's hand and went to the guard willingly.

He grabbed her roughly by the hair and she squealed, the other guard bound her hands together and threw her into a isolated corner of the dungeon. As they left the doors swung shut and the light faded, leaving them in a nearly pitch black. The last candle stood alone, like a light of hope, till it burned out.


	7. Reunited

Jemima and Jem were locked in a vacant, what seemed like as storeroom. It was shadowy and cramped, the journey here had been filled with hope, but now their imprisonment had snuffed out the light they dreamed of.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Jem whispered,

"I hope so, we might just be left here till we die, elves live ages." Jemima answered.

They heard pounding footsteps outside the door, pacing back and fourth, whoever was out there seemed distressed. The footsteps stopped, and then they heard a key in the lock, "Jemima, get ready to run, push past him," Jem whispered.

A chink of light came through the slit in the opened door, the girls pushed forward on the door forcefully and it swung open, to reveal a male elf, blonde haired and clothed in a green tunic. The girls tried to push past him but almost instinctively he caught them by the arm and slammed them back into the storeroom, "I am Legolas Greenleaf, trust me if you want to see your friends again, be quick n your feet, follow me, be silent."

He looked around the door, and beckoned for them to follow, Jemima went willingly, but Jem stayed, wary of him. "Come on you idiot," Snapped Jemima.

Jem took a slow step forward and followed.

Soon they reached the black bolted door, Legolas took a flame torch from the wall and pushed the door open. Springing inside he looked around the blackness, Jem following him, then Jemima.

"Legolas? Jem, Jemima, my god it's you!" Exclaimed Harriet. "Legolas, Anna, she is over there, they cut her, she is losing blood, you must help her." Harriet began in a panicky tone.

Jem and Jemima ran to her side, gasping at her arm. Legolas, sprung to Harriet's side, gazing into her eyes for a second, then raised his knife and cut her bounds. He went to Anna, frowning with anger as he saw the harm his father had instructed to be done.

From a leather bag that hung round his waist he took out a small bottle, pouring the contents tenderly over the cuts. Muttering Elvish words he began to stop the blood flow, Jem, Jemima and Harriet looked on in amazement. The blood had subdued, but the clear rubes cut into her flesh were still raw and open.

"I cannot heal any more than that." He said. He stood back, letting the girls jump to their friend's side. Anna opened her eyes, "The pain is gone, thank you." She breathed.

Now in a sterner tone he started to instruct them, they obeyed.

"Stand, we must be ready to leave." He tossed them shimmering blue cloaks, "put them on, they will disguise you, now follow me, keep to the shadows, if we are found you will be killed on sight." They fastened the cloaks around them and to their amazement it changed their clothes to that of a fair elf, nothing extravagant, but they were now clothed in a servant's silvery gown. "Elf magic. Cool," Jem murmured.

"Come," Legolas commanded, and he opened the door, they stepped out from the dungeon, ready to escape.


	8. Traitor to The Elves

Harriet held onto Legolas's arm pulling him back, the three others went ahead. Harriet and Legolas lingered for a moment. He looked at her, "Harriet, we have to go, I sense danger, we cannot stay." He said.

"Look, if I die, I want you to know you are the only guy who I love and will ever love, It's like I've known you forever" She whispered in his ear, then she turned to his face and kissed him briefly, he did not kiss back, but stumbled backwards slightly dazed, and wide eyed. He went a shade of red.

"My feelings are returned to you." He replied, then he whispered some mutterings of Elvish, that Harriet could not understand. Harriet grinned, and ran after the others, Legolas catching up to lead the group.

He led them up a spiralling flight of stairs, "Legolas? Why are there no elves here? There were swarms when I was brought to the dungeons, they have disappeared!" Anna asked.

He answered quickly, "There is a meeting, a meeting with the kings of the different realms to decide your fate, everyone had grouped to watch the final verdict."

Soon they reached a small door, embellished with wooden carvings of vines and flowers, "this is our escape, it is the door used in secret, only I, my Father and Arien know about it" he whispered.

He muttered a few Elvish words slowly and the door swung open, to reveal the sun streaming in from outside. Legolas shunted them through the door hurriedly looking behind him.

Suddenly a voice echoed along the corridor, and Arien the black haired she elf that had been there when they killed the spiders, yelled angrily "Legolas! You are a traitor!"

Legolas looked at Arien with anger, "Arien, do not turn us in, they have done nothing wrong, nor are they a threat, you know that Arien. You are no fool like my father."

"I know Legolas, I can sense the innocence in their souls, but your father has instructed us to keep them prisoner, it is my duty to keep them here," she replied.

"Arien, if no one knows about me, if know one knows you let me go, there will be no trouble, please Arien." He pleaded.

"I know your intentions have no evil, I shall let you go, I swear to secrecy." She said, Legolas exhaled calming, "Thank you, Arien." He smiled.

"Go, now! I hear a guard!" She said hurriedly, shutting the door behind them.

They had escaped; in the forest all was silent, the trees swayed in the singing breeze and the river, beneath the bridge they stood upon was blue and clear. The air seemed lighter here, and there were no webs or foul creatures.

Legolas let them rest for a few minutes before continuing on the journey, "haste! Into the trees. We are hidden there." He commanded.

He crouched down and putting his ear close to the ground, he listened. He kneeled, bare hands touching the moss beneath him. He began to whisper, words ringing out into the forest. The words were Elvish, deep and fluent, like a solemn ballad. He was calling something, calling them to him from the trees. Stamping, and galloping came from behind the dense forest and out sprang 5 glistening horses.


	9. Orc chase

Legolas instructed the horses to choose a rider, the horses trotted to up and nuzzled into their chosen owner. Finduilas, a silvery mane white horse went to Legolas, Isilindil, a chestnut brown went to Anna, Elwing, a dapple grey mare went to Jemima, Inwë ,a light brown mare went to jem and last, a black Arabian mare with white socks and a blaze for Harriet.

"They are horses of the wild, they are bonded to me, and I to them, I can call upon them, they will take you far, I shall guide you to a safer dwelling. You must ride bareback, wild horses do not carry riders with a saddle." He told them, then he said some Elvish words and the horses bent down, so they could be easily mounted. Harriet tried to mount her horse, but the wound at her side shot pain through her body. She winced, and bent, body buckling. She looked up; Legolas was by her side, "here, let me help."

Gently, avoiding her bandaged wound he lifted her onto the horses back, she smiled at him. He patted the horse.

As he went to mount his own horse Anna stopped him and showed him her cut arm, "Tell me, what do the runes say." She demanded,

"I shall tell you later, when there is time, for now keep it hidden." he replied.

Anna looked at it in silence, it hurt. He handed her a roll of cloth to wrap it in and the tied it round the runes, taking care to conceal whatever it said. She looked back up at him and nodded solemnly.

All were seated on their horse, fingers tangled within the it's mane for grip. Finduilas whinnied and Legolas dug his heels in, it began to walk, into the forest.

As they edged deeper into the forest it grew darker and more sinister than before. The silvery twigs rustled in the wind as it passed by. The dying brown leaves spiralled to the ground, falling solemnly through the air, eventually landing on their final resting place. The earth was damp and trodden beneath the horse's hooves. Mysterious hisses and whispering wind reached their ears from somewhere through the thick winding branches, seamlessly never ending. Dark green clouds of gas puffed from spores on the trees, choking them as they galloped past.

They all galloped along the path in formation, Legolas leading. He threw up his hand to signal them to slow, he came to a halt. He dismounted, a look of worry upon his face. He crouched and listened, no one dared breath, the silence was like death.

"They are too near, they come from along the path, I should of sensed it earlier" He whispered faintly.

"What is it? What comes?" Jem said, growing panicky.

He looked up, face white, "Orcs."

"Mount your horses quickly now! They have wargs with them! They have picked up our scent!" He commanded rushing to Finduilas. He waited for the others to steady their horses, before galloping fast along the path, leading the fleeing group. Behind them they could hear the clashing and clanging of orc armour and the murderous growling, bellowing from the excited wargs. Round the corner of the path came the foul group of monsters running towards them at speed, Jem screamed as she looked round.

The horses scattered, all whinnying and frightened, Jem and Jemima's horses swerved off the path, to the right, horses giddy with panic.

Legolas lead Finduilas into the trees to escape the orcs, naturally Harriet followed him, the orcs gained on them, jaws gnashing, but as Legolas and Harriet disappeared into the thicket they were out of sight, only Anna remained on the path, abandoned. Her horse was fastest, and the wargs, still chasing her began to fall behind, til she was ahead of them, but she could not control , Isilindil, who galloped fiercely along the path.

She could still hear the orcs behind her, but as she looked around, they were out of sight, for the path had turned a sharp corner. In that moment, an overhanging branch she did not see, collided with her body as Isilindil ducked beneath it. She fell from his back onto the path, as the orcs advanced. Soon they would round the corner and see her lying helpless and rip her apart. She could not scream, no sound came from her open mouth.

Suddenly, just before the orcs saw her, she felt strong arms around her, pulling her into the dense thicket at the side of the path. This time she did scream, but a firm hand covered her mouth to prevent it.

"Shut it" The voice whispered. The voice was male, she could define that, but whoever it was, she couldn't see their identity.

They both tensed as the orcs passed them, they were hidden in the bushes, one dismounted from a warg and sniffed. It followed its nose towards them, clearly it could smell them. Anna froze, not daring to breath. Its face was mangled, nose protruding from its pus filled face. It bared its yellow teeth, snarling.

"My darlings, I can smell you, smell your fear, where are you?" It growled, spitting with every pronunciation. The orc had fallen behind the view of the rest, who had ridden further ahead, in the illusion Anna was still on the horse. It opened its foul mouth, about to call the others back, when her captive drew dagger and threw it into him.

It fell to its knees silently, the other orcs did not see it die, they were far ahead.

Anna exhaled with a sigh of relief and struggled from his grip. He let go, and she jumped from the bush to grasp the knife he had used to kill the orc, implanted in its belly. In a split second she had the knife at her captor's throat, eyes wide with fear from her recent experience, and excitement at her new found inner warrior.

He drew his hands back to signal he meant no harm, and laughed. She recognised who he was, Kili.

"Put down the knife little lass, I won't hurt you." He chuckled, as she looked at him astonished.


	10. Fog in The Forest

Jemima brushed her tangled from her face, which had plastered itself across her view during riding away from the orcs. She turned round on the horse's back to face Jemima and signalled for them to slow down from the fast paced trot they were at. She directed her horse, nudging it with her legs and leaning her weight to come alongside to Jemima. Instinctively the horses stopped, so Jemima and Jem could speak. Jem breathed heavily, tired from what seemed hours of continuous galloping through thick wood. Her whole body ached and her heart banged inside her chest, drumming hard from fear of the orc.

"Jem?" Where are we?" Jemima asked, unsure and slightly delirious. "Are the others here? Are the orcs gone?"

"The orcs are gone, but so are the others, we are alone." Jemima said, wavering.

"Oh god, what is happening," Jem muttered, hope fading.

"Shall we call for Legolas?" Jem said.

"No! No, all sorts of creatures live in these woods, they will all hear us, I bet there watching us right now." Jemima said warily, looking around her into the bushes, scouring her surroundings for glowing eyes, or bared teeth.

"Oh, we are utterly in for it, this is so stupid, we are in the middle of these woods, alone." Jemima said.

"Come on, we should set up a camp, for the night. We can't keep wandering, there are no orcs here, i'd say this is ok." Said Jemima pointing vaguely around where they stood.

She dismounted and Jem followed her, planting her feet firmly on the ground. The horses sensed they were stopping here and started to graze.

They were situated in a woodland clearing, trees of oak and sycamore sending leaves to carpet the ground. The sun was starting to fade above the canopy and it was already shadowy beneath the trees. Shapes and figures seemed to dance around them, maybe it was Jem's eyes playing tricks on her, but she seemed wary and scared of something out there. In all the books of LOTR and The Hobbit it described so vividly the way the orcs slashed down countless numbers of innocent humans. It also referred to other creatures, darker and mysterious. Her hands shook subtly by her sides as she watched Jemima busying herself, with twigs and sticks. Jemima bent and gathered some leaves, making a pile at the base of a large tree, with a small hollow, giving them safety for the night.

"Oh God its dark." Exclaimed Jem looking up, she went to help Jemima.

"I know," Jemima said, thinking of how weird this place was compared to back home where she had her own warm bed and electricity, and much luxury, phones, television but she wasn't complaining. Middle Earth was the coolest place ever, in her opinion, and she was so utterly excited. Jemima quite forgot about the terrible peril they were both in, and where Anna and Harriet were. She seemed to remember Harriet following Legolas, swerving off the path in the opposite direction to them. She knew Harriet would be fine, but as for Anna, she hadn't seen where she had gone, but something told her the orcs had not found her.

Jem stood, and went to where the horses grazed, whinnying gently. She could tell they were not at ease, something disturbed them. Seeing their discomfort it put her on edge, her senses sharpened and instincts told her to stay away from the shadow surrounding them. One thought which had been on her mind a lot was of Fili, her favourite character from middle earth. She found him 'handsome' and ever so slightly 'sexy'. Upon thinking of him again she decided that actually, he was very sexy. She hoped they might meet. She thought of mentioning the prospect of meeting him to Jemima but thought not, the mood was too solemn and tense to laugh about it. Night came about them like a heavy, empowering blanket of darkness.

Jemima crawled into the hollow, pulling her cloak around her, and Jem followed her inside leaving the horses outside. It smelt strongly of damp wood and leaves, but it was comfortable and sheltered. They were lucky to of found such a convenient little place, it offered protection from whatever lurked outside. Jemima curled up, Jem next to her, and they fell into the deep rhythm of sleep, lying on a mattress of moss and leaves.

Jem woke with a start; it was still night and the pale moon shone dimly outside. Her face was damp with sweat, and she found her limbs limp and frozen, shaking from the cold and subconscious fear. Some strange, strangled cry echoed from the darkness, sending her cowering deeper into the leaves. She pulled the elvish cloak tighter round her and shivered. I t was silent, except for the quiet rustle of branches in the gentle wind. She sank back and from shutting her eyes, rapidly fell back into sleep.

Weak sun rays danced onto the shut eyelids of Jem and Jemima waking them up to the foggy hazed morning. Jem nudged Jemima, and she stirred, exhaling. Looking out of the hollow she could see the thick carpet of hanging fog moving slowly across the ground in rippling waves. Jemima stepped outside cautiously, peering into the mist. As she expected the horses had left, but still her heart sank. She had enjoyed their company but she knew they were wild, and not bound to anyone but Legolas, and he was not here. She had no idea where anyone was.


	11. Evil Innocence

Anna sat on a fallen tree, fumbling with the fabric of her elf dress nervously. Even though she was in her dream world, the prospect of more orcs was unbearably terrifying. At least she was with Kili, he was a strong fighter, and she guessed he was reasonably familiar with life in the woods and among the forest. The lulling sound of birds tweeting gently in the early morning sent her body relaxing and she breathed a sigh of peace, breath floating from her lips to join the mysterious carpet of fog. Nothing had quite gone to plan yet; first it was spiders, then imprisonment, now she was in the woods with no clue of her friends' location. They could be slain by orc for all she knew, but she guessed not. Legolas was a skilled warrior and she sensed nothing of death yet. A lump forced its way up her throat and she began to tremble slightly, but held tears back. She flicked her hair around her shoulders and it fell around her head loosely, swishing in the breeze. It was as if she had just washed and brushed it, perfect. It must be the effect of the elvish clothing she thought, elves were always full of enchantment and most of their crafts contained some special touch of magic. Although it was past dawn, light was still dim, and dappled the ground in shadow through the canopy. Creatures scuttled and lurked in the thickets, she knew not what the trees concealed, but did not think of it, for fear of scaring herself. Arching her back she yawned, back aching from the root that had protruded from the ground where she slept and dug into her all night. She and Kili had set up a 'camp' of sorts, just a slightly barer section of forest. The ashes from the pit they had used for a small warming fire the evening before were beginning to blow away in the ever flowing fog, sweeping across the ground. From their whispered conversation earlier, she had discovered that somewhere in these woods, were the rest of 'the dwarves'. Kili had been a bit too ambitious of his navigating skills, and had gone ahead to for fun, but, as the reckless one, got 'slightly' cut off from the dwarves with him. He said he went off by himself a lot, they wouldn't be too worried, and he would turn up sooner or later. Anna sensed he was actually slightly uneasy by himself, without the reassurance of his kin. From his manner, Anna thought that he fancied himself quite the handsome prince and all, saving her from that orc pack, like rescuing a maiden in distress. Within the short period of time she had known him, she thought they had formed a reasonably familiar friendship together, joking and laughing. Anna felt herself blush slightly. She suddenly brightened up, hearing Kili's merry voice from the trees, and then he appeared, holding a small pheasant aloft like a trophy. He beamed, transforming his face from the 'mysterious good-looker 'to the 'cute and happy otter'. Anna couldn't help giggle at his childish delight. "I got one! I am so hungry!" He said, inspecting the pheasant with keen eyes. "How did you get it?" Anna asked him, but behind her pleased impressed expression she felt quite put off by the bird's limp body. "I put an arrow in it. Oh, we need a fire to cook it, do you mind getting some more wood?" He said, as he bent to gather a few rogue sticks from yesterday's wood pile. Anna kneeled and picked up smaller sticks, dry and thin for kindling, passing them to Kili. Soon they had found enough for a decent fire, and Kili lit it. The wood sprang to life, with flickering, glowing flames licking the twigs and branches. Kili blew into it, and the flames grew higher with each exhale of breath. Anna felt its heat rising, melting her chilled bones to a comfortable warming temperature. It crackled, and spat out sparks like fireworks, a steady but thin plume of smoke rising, then whipped away by the breeze. Seeing it burning well, Kili clapped his hands together, and picked up the dreaded pheasant again. He went to sit on the log beside Anna and brought out a sharp knife from his pocket. Anna shivered as he gutted it, but soon it was over. Carefully, with his rough strong hands he wrapped the tender pink flesh with thick green leaves, in packages and laid them on the bed of hot ashes after the fire had burnt all out. The embers were still glowing and very hot, but the flames had died. The edges of the leaves started to curl and steam, going slightly black, but did not burn or crumble. Anna watched tentatively, guessing this was a method of cooking meat. Despite the smoky pungency, an enticing smell began to waft toward her nose. She hadn't eaten anything for quite some time, and was looking forward to eating this. "MMM" Kili said. Anna yawned, and stretched out, tensing her body. She exhaled, calmly. Kili sat next to her tapping his fingers on his lap impatiently, as he watched their food cooking. "So, where do you come from? You don't seem too familiar with this world, do you?" Kili enquired, attempting to start a conversation. He was genuinely quite bemused about this girl, Anna, she definitely didn't know her way around, well neither did he to be fair. Anna paused to come up with an invented idea, she figured telling him about her falling from the sky would be a bit weird, but nothing came to mind. "Oh, uuurrrm, well, what happened is that, urm." She tried to think of something, but decided not to risk lying, she'd be 'mysterious'. "I'm a wanderer, I come from nowhere." "Well your obviously human right?" Kili said. "Yes, yes I am." Anna replied. "Then, why are you wearing elvish clothes?" Kili asked. "Oh, that's because I was given them, as a present." She said which was basically true, if you thought about it. "Thorin hates elves," Kili mumbled, "I'm not so sure about them myself." "Some of them are horrible, but I know some nice ones." She said thinking of Legolas and his selfless devotion to helping them. She smiled slightly, she was pretty sure Harriet and Legolas had something going on. "Yeah," Kili said; glancing at the bandage round Anna's arm he asked, "Hey, what's that? On your arm. Do you want me to have a look; I've got some healing herbs if you want?" Anna suddenly went tense, remembering Legolas' words to not let anyone see it, it must be concealed. "No! No, you can't, sorry, it's fine. I don't need anything. You can't look! I was told no one can see it, ok?!" Anna exclaimed. Kili went quiet, but was still curious. "Ok, ok, I was only asking." He joked. "Looks like its ready." He said, pointing vaguely at the fire. He bent down and picked up a chunk of meat with his hands, tossing it from hand to hand from the heat. Unwrapping the leaves, which crumbled away he gave it to Anna who wolfed it down hungrily. He did the same. 'It tasted good', Anna thought as she swallowed another. "Thanks Kili," She said in-between chews. "It's really nice." Kili nodded and licked his lips, they had eaten all of it now, and Anna felt full. "You know, we really should find your friends before dark. Are you sure they're here?" Said Kili to Anna. "They're somewhere." Anna replied. "I don't really know." Within half an hour they had dashed out the remains of the fire, and collected everything together before leaving to find anyone of Harriet, Legolas, Jem, Jemima, and the dwarves, preferably no orcs or spiders, but they were an occupational hazard. Before they left Kili handed Anna a weapon, a sharp curved blade about the length from her fingertips to elbow. It glinted as she held, and she marvelled at such craftsmanship, with its dark green opal at the centre of the hilt, and what seemed like patterns of gem stone in the shining metal. She felt stronger at arms, majestic even. They trudged through the day, into early hours of evening, but the forest stretched out before them never ending. They passed thickets of thorns, great oak trees, a flock of strange birds and deep sudden gouges in the ground plunging down to unknown depths. Even with the sun still bright above the treetops, the forest reeked of shadow and decay. There were seldom few flowers, all colour replaced with bramble and twining, strangling vines. There was no sign of any life, and Anna began to lose her last hope, despite Kili's constant reassuring and happy remarks. He seemed quite sure they'd be found soon, but Anna was not so. The sunshine turned to pale moonshine, glimmering through the silvery leaves. The air grew cold and biting. "I think, we really should stop now, it is night." Anna said, an owl hooting in the distance as if to prove her point. "Ah, so it is! Don't you love the peaceful night?" Kili sang happily. He never seemed to find anything negative. He pointed to a large hollow in a tree. "Let's rest here." He said, and then bet down examining the entrance to the hollow. "See!" He said excitedly, becoming for Anna to come and look too. The ground had clear defined footprints pressed into it, and inside the hollow were leaves, purposefully piled there by someone for warmth. The ground was turned up, by horse's hooves and everything here indicated someone had been here. Little did they know that this was the exact place Jem and Jemima had spent the previous night. "I bet your friends were here!" Kili exclaimed. "Can you see a path where they left?" Anna said, staring at a trail through the woods. "Yes, look, this is where they left." Kili said, pointing. "Buts it's far too dark to track them now, there are nasty creatures out at this hour. We will have to follow it in the morning, when the suns up." "I suppose that is best." Anna groaned. She climbed into the hollow, which was warmer and sheltering. "I will stay out here, keep a look out. You go to sleep."Kili said firmly. "Are you sure? I don't mind staying up, but yes, I am tired." Anna asked. "Go ahead and sleep." Kili said smiling. "Night then." Anna said. "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the tree maggots, bark weevils, and orc fleas bite." Kili said with a cheerful laugh, seeing Anna's expression. "What!? Orc fleas! Really?" Anna said. "I bet there are thousands crawling inside that tree." Kili said laughing mischievously. "Urgh, yuck, I won't get any sleep now I know about that." Anna grumbled. "Don't worry, I'm joking." Kili laughed. "Oh, well it was very convincing." Anna said, embarrassed. "Oh, look at the starlight" Kili breathed to himslef, gazing up and seeing the distant gleaming of stars through the leaves. "What was that?" Anna mumbled. "Oh, nothing, don't worry." Kili replied. Soon Anna fell into a deep sleep, breathing heavily. The hollow was reasonably warm, and peace came easier knowing they had found evidence of her friends. She turned over in her sleep, rustling the leaves. Kili still sat outside, thinking to himself. 'I bet Fili will laugh at me so hard because I got lost, again. And this girl is funny, she seems to have appeared from nowhere, and she knew quite a lot, even my name! But I've never seen her in my entire life! Oh yeah, and I'm burning to find out what's beneath that bandage round her arm. She was so protective over it, and told me nothing of it.' He carried on his vague thoughts, but the question of her so called mysterious 'wound' began to burn him up. Surely if he just took a quick look while she slept it wouldn't hurt. He finally made his mind up, whatever it was, he needed to find out. Well, he didn't need to, but he wanted to. She kept too many secrets, just finding out one couldn't hurt a fly, could it? No, it was fine. Being careful not disrupt twigs, which could potentially wake her from slumber, he went to the hollow and reached for her arm. It was limp and the fabric of the bandage reasonably loose. She stirred momentarily, sending his heart stopping and plunging, but she did not wake. He fumbled with the cloth and slipped it down her wrist revealing her once covered arm. Kili gasped as the moon lit it up, clearly to his eyes. His heart skipped a beat with shock. On her arm, carved deep into it laid the 'evil runes'. These runes were only put on creatures of darkness, created by evil. These were carved onto the arm as a warning for others, and a punishment for terrible crime. Only released prisoners, born of shadows or if they were murderers themselves, carried these runes upon them, and would wander aimlessly for the rest of their lives. He couldn't believe that this girl, who had seemed so innocent, was capable of such darkness. The runes said she was a creature whose only aim was to spread death, she must be disguised. His heart didn't want to, but he knew he must leave her alone, or risk his own life. She meant danger, but still, how could she be a killer? He stood, shaking slightly and fastened his pack on his back. Turning he strode away into the trees. Glancing back at her serene sleeping face, he shook his head. She was abandoned, alone. Anna awoke smiling, to the early morning rays. She poked her head out of the hollow expecting to see Kili's cheerful face but he was nowhere to be seen. His pack had disappeared too. She stood up outside and scanned around for him. Her heart sank as she looked down at her arm, un bandaged. He had seen it. Now she knew Legolas had good reason for telling her to cover it. Kili had seen it, and been driven away. She guessed it was a sign of evil. Forcing back hot tears she sunk to the ground. "What do I do?" She sobbed into her hands. How could she possibly stay alive without someone else with her? He had taken the blade with him as well. She had nothing. She was helpless. 


End file.
